May 2013: 5 in the thread and the little one said, roll over - there's lots more on the way!

[Rhienne]

Running out of space over here so a new thread for all our fabulous birth stories!

Oh InNeedof you sound exactly the same as me, it is tough with a very active toddler isn't it? My parents arrive in two days and I cannot wait to start having afternoon naps while they chase her round the house!

36+3.
Or 3 weeks today until C section

It is such hard work, we live in Somerset and our families are up north and Portsmouth so I will be making the most of it. I don't know how people ever have more than 2 kids they must be exhausted all the time. It's good you will get plenty of rest before baby comes.

I'm so happy peppa pig is on the telly all the time just so she will sit down for 5 minutes.

Had a friend take some pregnancy pics of me today and I can see that I am exhausted in most of them. She's coming for lunch on Saturday so hopefully I'll be a little less tired and won't look like I haven't had any sleep in weeks.

Also feet swelled up like a bullfrog again today. Seems that as soon as I overdo it, out come the cankles. Went for a nice long pre-dinner nap with my feet up on two extra pillows and that seems to have helped.

I really don't want my baby to come early, especially as DH is away on business from 4-8 May, but physically I am ready to trade in my morningsickness, spd and canckles for a sore fanjo and leaking boobs although I may regret saying this

38+4 and today I have (mostly) packed my hospital bag. Now if someone can just sort out the corner of our room where the cot is supposed to go, I think we might be almost ready for this baby to arrive. Not that my "list-of-things-to-do-before-the-baby-arrives" is empty, but most of the "it-would-be-very-inconvenient-to-not-have-done-this-when-baby-arrives" things are now completed.

I know what you mean Mermaid. I keep thinking - I would reallylike to stop being pregnant now. But then I think - do I reallywant to step into new-parent-havent-slept-for-days mode just yet???

well at 37+5 I have just bought my first bottle of gaviscon. Im surprised that this is the first heartburn I have had.

Good luck with your section today Bood, hope all goes well and wish you a speedy recovery. Another one arriving before May has even begun.

Ooh yes wishing you all the best bood .

It must be a great name then scooby . I love Jessica, it was on my shortlist, it's such a lovely name. I also love Samuel, will Sam be short for that?

Sophie is my favourite of your names geek, a really pretty name

That's interesting beaut, last time I wasn't allowed to drink anything during labour (I don't actually know why this is) and my first pee was agony, after that I was too scared to drink too much water so I didn't have to go to the toilet too much. I'll take your advice this time though and drink lots.

My feet and legs feel like they're swelling a bit too dbx, I can only fit into those slip on ballerina type shoes which aren't very practical in all the rain we're having at the moment!

Good luck today bood soon you'll be having lovely newborn cuddles! At this rate we'll have more babies born outside of May than we will have May babies!

I hope everyone else is ok, not long now thankfully!

I've got good news and bad news; good news is the physio finally got in touch and I've an appointment today, I'm 36+1 today though so am not sure there's any point, better late than never though. The bad news, DS decided to paint his bedroom wall and put a lovely handprint pattern all over it. It's wallpapered too so I can't wash it off.

I had a bit of a panic last night, I had horrible backache, nothing was helping it and then I started worrying that if I couldn't take some backache then how on earth was I going to manage labour. I was confident about it before but now I'm getting quite worried that I won't be able to handle the pain, I had an epidural at 5cm last time, even though it kept wearing off it definitely took the majority of the pain away but now I don't think I'll be able to do it this time without an epidural.

Waiting to go down. Very calm but think I'm paddling like crazy under the surface. Such a strange time, this bit before. Better not be too late... I'm so hungry. Bit nervous but all will be well xx

Tiger, don't worry about being able to handle the pain. Ask your physio about techniques to manage the pain - mine had some interesting suggestions which seemed to involve throttling DH. I may have missed something in translation though .

There's nothing wrong with having an epidural, they're bloody marvelous.

Bood, v excited for you, keep us posted when it's convenient.

Tiger, I hear you loud and clear about coping in labour but you just do, don't you. And we're both doing it again so it can't have been so awful. All worth it anyway! So many people have said their 2nd was a lot quicker.

I'm so shattered, I am a foul and grumpy mum sat in front of cbeebies on a beautiful sunny day. I'm just not sleeping, any tips? I was walking a lot mon/tues and I felt great but I'm too tired now. DD is a little angel , not even hard work but I 've got no patience :(

And a good book about labour is by juju sundin, it's about focusing in labour but it's much more active than hypnobirthing, which suits me. It's quite blunt about talking about pain, which I do sometimes find unsettling but part of me thinks it's good to be realistic. Though everyone's labour is so different.

And epidurals, yes marvellous, I may have proposed to my anaesthetist, which DH thought was hilarious!

Best of luck bood
Tiger I had similar thoughts about coping with the pain. You will deal with it because you have to. If for you, part of dealing with it means an epidural then so be it. And remember it will end

Good luck bood!

First day of mat leave here (hurrah!) and I'm spending it...finishing off the work/handover notes etc that I didn't manage to get done yesterday. Oops. But nearly there!

Can't believe Thursday has come around so quick...good luck Bood! Hopefully you've gone down already or will be very soon :)

Tiger I was wondering about your physio referral the other day and whether you'd had an appointment yet. Can't believe it's took that long for you. Hopefully they'll be able to at least help with some exercises that can alleviate the pain a little for you.

I remember having the same worries about coping with pain in labour for DC2. I had an epidural (that didn't work properly) and ended up with forceps delivery in theatre for DC1 and wondered how would I cope the next time. DC2 was a planned homebirth with gas and air and it was amazing. So much quicker than DC1 and I felt so much more in control of everything. It was all so calm compared to the first time.

Think what I'm trying to say is that while we know every labour is different it's easy to let our own individual experiences convince ourselves that that's how it will be on another occasion. It's hard to think positively when you're anxious about what's to come though! For the most part I try and tell myself that I've done it before and I can do it again. And will do it again. Soon :o

Good luck today Bood

Well I just had my driving test and failed. Although it was a great fail. I went through a red light Ao disappointed as when ill get time for another test is beyond me

Oh no Beaut :(

Try not to let it get you down too much. I think you were very brave trying to do it now. And there will be opportunities to get it done. Eventually. Just maybe not before the baby comes. I know it would have made it easier to do before though. Don't give up will you? (I failed my first try spectacularly too)

ah beaut I'm sorry. I have given up till baby comes along. Trying to pack a house is enough at the moment and DH isn't very helpful at the moment. He keeps saying we will do it later but later is getting nearer and nearer.

Thanks ladies to be honest I would have been shocked to pass first time. I'm kind of glad I failed on a big thing than little mistakes. I'm going to chill now and wait for baby to arrive.

Hopefully ill do it next time. Now that I know what to expect. I need to get driving sharpish though as I'm so restricted being in a village

I'm waiting for the MW to ring. Hopefully she will soon. Can I offload here in the meantime?

Had my consultant appt yesterday. Majority of the appt was spent getting told off for declining the GTT at 28w. Got sick of explaining myself really. Ended up painstakingly giving my reasons and then having to say that I hadn't decided lightly in order for them (junior dr and consultant) to give it a rest. The decision was made 10 weeks ago fgs.

The only reason it was offered was because of the size of DS. Who i didnt have GD with and who was big because he was big and has never dropped from his birth centiles. So then the Consultant had a feel of my belly, decreed that this one isn't big (which is fine by me but all my measurements are showing that it's likely to be on the bigger side) and that was that. To me thus proving my point that I didn't need the GTT I thought.

Trouble with this appt is that I was looking around the hospital and didn't feel comfortable there. Now having massive wobble that ive picked the wrong hospital and that I want to change to the one I had DS at. Even though some of the things I didn't like about that hospital were what led me to choosing the current one.

On top of that if this is a normal size baby (like x-ray vision dr seems to think) then I want my homebirth option back.

Feel so confused and anxious about all this now when I was just trying keep relaxed and go with the flow.

Also, and I think it is a blip rather than anything else, my BP (taken before seeing the drs!) was way higher than my usual readings. Not in the realms of high blood pressure that much but for me it was a big, big jump. No-one batted an eyelid at it. I'm not sure if they even looked at previous readings in my notes. Everything else was fine though.

Oh and my MW is off next week so I'm not due to see her until 40w now so although the hospital dipped urine, did BP, measured belly and had a feel for position of baby, the heart beat wasn't listened to. So I'm worrying about that not happening (and there being a 4 week gap between checks), my BP being a bit raised and not knowing where the hell I want to give birth :(

Sorry to go on a bit. It's helped to get it all out though.

Terra If they weren't concerned by blood pressure then I wouldn't be either. Mine was a lot lower than usual yesterday but my midwife said nothing. With the tests I wouldn't worry about that either. However, I can understand if you want to be seen for reassurance. If so just call your main maternity unit and asked for an extra midwife appointment to be slotted in. If you tell them your concerns they should be fine and just fit you in with another midwife.

What is it you don't like about hospital? My midwife asked me yesterday if I wanted a home birth at my 36 week appt so its not too late to ask. Just tell them when you call the hospital. Remember after all its your body your decision and you have a right to request whatever you feel is best for you and baby. Most midwifes these days will see that your wishes are met.

37+0 eeeekkkk

Just realised your waiting for midwife to call. Like I said just say you would like an extra appt and that you would like a home birth or to change hospital. Just keep in mind its your decision not hers and an appt shouldn't be missed anyway just because shes away someone else should do it.